dragonwynn Posted February 22, 2015 Author Share Posted February 22, 2015 (edited) Yea George MC the exit zones appear to have bugged the missions so I changed all the scenarios that have them to occupy staging areas with additional points. See the above post. Hopefully its corrected. Edited February 22, 2015 by dragonwynn 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holien Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 I was about to start this, will pick up new file. Looking forward to it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hister Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 I was about to start this, will pick up new file. Looking forward to it. Good timing Holien! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holien Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Nope... 1st minute Tiger takes a rocket in the top armour, HQ vehicle all crew lost!!! That is poor timing! Managed a few turns last night, got to hate that arty... (Looks good so far...) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hister Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 (edited) Very bad timing then! I haven't lost any tanks to artillery (yet). Hope it stays that way. Edited February 23, 2015 by Hister 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonwynn Posted February 23, 2015 Author Share Posted February 23, 2015 I had that happen to Clauss's tank in one test playthrough Holien. If its not Clauss you are still good but if its him it is over lol. Luck of the draw I guess. There is nothing easy about this campaign by design though I hope I didn't make it to difficult. The key is to keep as much armour intact from mission to mission so as George MC mentioned you really have to play smart. In the real event the Germans had little as far as reinforcements so I tried to follow that line within this campaign. Let me know of any other issues as I really want to make this a good campaign. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holien Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Will do, I am doing my best this year to show the scenario designers some love and attention as without guys like you I don't get to feed my addiction! So will keep you updated. BTW no problem re the Tiger loss, just made it more fun for me!!! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George MC Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Yea George MC the exit zones appear to have bugged the missions so I changed all the scenarios that have them to occupy staging areas with additional points. See the above post. Hopefully its corrected. Cool - downloaded the new version. Re Soviet experience levels: I've just checked the first scenario (seeing as I've now played it four times it holds no big surprises for me!) in AI Scenario test mode and noticed the experience levels for the Soviets are very uniform - and possibly a tad high for Soviet armoured units in this time period? A few veteran crews maybe but more regular if not green? I did wonder why I'd a hard job in the first one cos these Soviet tankers are ninjas! I'll give it another go through from the beginning. I really like the concept of this scenario so really happy to support you in developing this - it's a very neat idea (I really liked the aid station brief by the way - oh just one wee point. Clauss ain't at the aid station in the actual scenario, you have him set-up across the rive. Is that intentional? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonwynn Posted February 23, 2015 Author Share Posted February 23, 2015 Yes I put him across the river with the second platoon to cover getting the wounded across the stream. Did you complete the second one OK? Did you play the campaign I did for CMBN called In the fields where the poppies grow? It is similar to this one. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Canadian Cat Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Yea George MC the exit zones appear to have bugged the missions so I changed all the scenarios that have them to occupy staging areas with additional points. See the above post. Hopefully its corrected.If there is an exit zone for a side then any destroy unit objectives really become exit objectives and the opposition gets points if they do not exit. If there are no exit zones then the opposition really needs to take the unit out to score.That is my understanding anyway. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George MC Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Yes I put him across the river with the second platoon to cover getting the wounded across the stream. Did you complete the second one OK? Did you play the campaign I did for CMBN called In the fields where the poppies grow? It is similar to this one. Ok - just thought as the storyline brief has him chatting with the infantry officer I thought he'd be at the aid station. Nope got a tactical defeat and was booted out of the campaign. As IanL says if you have exit zones ANY unit (assuming all units have a 'destroy' objective assigned them) that does not exit counts as destroyed. This can really screw your points scoring unless you account for it e.g. by giving the side exiting a bonus number of points to take up some of the balance. I think that's what is perhaps skewing the scoring? Re Poppies Grow - sorry I haven't played it. TBH I've been pretty busy the past couple of years with doing stuff for CMRT and CMBS that my scenario playing time has been super limited. Trying to make up for it now 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonwynn Posted February 23, 2015 Author Share Posted February 23, 2015 Thanks IanL for clarifying that. I did not know so the learning process continues lol 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonwynn Posted February 23, 2015 Author Share Posted February 23, 2015 I took all the exit zones out in the new file so make sure you have that one in my Dropbox above 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonwynn Posted February 23, 2015 Author Share Posted February 23, 2015 Yes I just had him redeploy across the stream to be used as a covering fire or a counterattack if the aid station fell 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holien Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 Finished my 1st test of the 1st scenario and I got a Draw and was kicked from campaign... I Lost Claus Tank but he was fine, kept Village and I was down to 2 Tigers (made numerous mistakes as I have not played too much RT and learning how Tigers work with T85 at close range... (Badly...) I forced my way to finish the game and was pretty miffed with the whole thing. I see what you are trying to do but it felt like you are trying a tad too hard. I often see wargamers who do similar set ups on tables and they never get to finish the game, Less is More IMO. Some things I would suggest you change from my POV which of course might vary from others. (I guess some people will enjoy it...) The feeling I got from the game was that the infantry were mere speed bumps and I became really disengaged from the whole game and just wanted it to end. It just felt like a turkey shoot... I did learn more about Tigers and T85's and even at close range with 1st hits on T85's they could still hit back and wipe my Tigers out with one shot. If I played it again I now know where to position my force and how to play the AI but I am reluctant to put more time into this as it just did not do it for me. I do like challenges but I want to feel engaged and you want to craft the story with one big nasty batle at the end, not sledge the player to death at the start... I will ponder it some more and see if I can add any other thoughts.... I would do as George suggest and down grade the Soviets. I would look to make Soviet and German force smaller and make the 1st scenario a smaller affair to draw people in rather than hit them with a sledge hammer from the start. I certainly would allow the player some choice to set up the defences as they wish. I felt like I had no control and all the infantry were not where I would have put them. The rockets killed more Soviet infantry than my forces and the AI plan needs tweaking to stop them from hitting the barrage. I felt that arty went on a tad too long. I also felt the forces were just too much and IRL it did not feel right having so much on the board, Maybe this is representative of real life, but it just did seem too much in too small an area? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonwynn Posted February 25, 2015 Author Share Posted February 25, 2015 Thanks for your input Holien. I will take your suggestions into consideration and I may revamp the first couple of battles to make it a little easier. I knew it would be a tough campaign. I wanted to give the player a feel for what it was like for the German forces at the beginning of Bagration and try and model those difficulties into a storyline. Most of the battles are difficult in this campaign and I worried I had made it to tough but wanted to throw it out for players to give it a shot. If other players have the same feelings I will pull it and rework the early battles to make it a little easier to advance through the campaign. The last battle is a beast as you will have limited forces due to the lack of reinforcements and the loses you aquire advancing through the campaign are critical. I was trying to keep it as realistic as possible to actual battlefield conditions but I may have over did it lol. It wasn't designed to discourage just to offer a tougher than normal challenge. Thanks again for the input as it will help me improve the campaign. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARS42 Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Hello dragonwynn, i also finished the first scenario now successful. In the first try i lost 8 Tigers, in the second 5, in the third 2, .... that´s now acceptable to go on for the next mission. I agree mostly with Holien experience. The first mission is too difficult for an opening scenario of a campaign, because you have to save enough core-units for the following scenarios. That´s nearly impossible without repeating the mission. On the other side i must say, that i had a lot of fun even at the third try, because of these huge challenges. As a stand-alone scenario it would be nearly perfect. What really disturbed me, is the experience-level of the german infantry. It might be realistic, that some of the german units in 1944 were "green", but it does not help the campaign to play it in a realistic way. I defended some woods with green units, had all advantages on my side, but my troops retreated always after the first few russian shots out of the woods an were then destroyed by russian tanks or artillery. Under this conditions, every tactical plan of a player is senseless. In the third try i took only the regular and experienced forces towards the enemy and put the green (senseless) troops to the rear. So i would suggest to upgrade all the current experience levels of the german infantry one step. Green to Regular, Regular to Experienced and Experienced to Veteran. Greets, MARS42 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonwynn Posted February 25, 2015 Author Share Posted February 25, 2015 Thanks Mars42. I will look at making that adjustment as I will probably rework the whole thing. Seems the difficulty is a common issue. The input is great to help me make this thing work. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARS42 Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 In my opinion you should change not too much, because the fun factor is very high in your first scenario. The experience-upgrade of the infantry will solve the problems, because with this morale boost, the many Panzerschreck-teams on the map will not retreat before shooting, but help the Tigers in destroying the T34s. Oh... and i forgot to congratulate you for developing this interesting campaign! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonwynn Posted February 25, 2015 Author Share Posted February 25, 2015 Thank you Mars42. I will make those adjustments asap and post the new file. Hopefully that will help balance things. Probably will make some script adjustments to help with repair and replenish when moving from mission to mission 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonwynn Posted February 26, 2015 Author Share Posted February 26, 2015 Ok after additional input about the difficulty of the first few missions I have made the following adjustments. 1. Infantry in the first scenario have been upgraded in status. They are all either veteran or regular status with most getting leadership upgrades also. I also added 3 Pak 40 anti-tank guns to the German defense in the first scenario to add additional ant-tank capability and moved the one machinegun crew in the forward bunker that was inadvertantly forgotten so it follows the storyline correctly. I added a setup zone for the infantry in the forward trenchlines so you will have some options to move those forward forces around (including the Pak's) 2. Made a few adjustments in additional missions (no spoilers) in infantry status and some additional armor reinforcements in one scenario. 3. Adjusted the script to add more replenishment and repair to maybe help keeping the core units somewhat intact. This campaign will still be a challenge I feel to complete but hopefully these adjustments will balance things somewhat. I never want players who try my stuff out to be frustrated so I will work dillegently to get it right. Many thanks to those who have made suggestions to help me make this into something good. I am still new at this design thing so hopefully on my next attempt (in progress now for BS) I will get it right. The new cam file is in my dropbox here https://www.dropbox.com/s/bp2j5c693zyw5ds/The%20Cross%20of%20Iron.cam?dl=0 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holien Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 (edited) Sorry was out yesterday and wanted to add more comment's, your changes sound good and glad you picked up on empty bunker. TRPs I think are also needed. Any force that has time for bunkers and trenches has time to register TRPs IMO. Edited February 26, 2015 by Holien 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holien Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Ok So just loaded it up and both bunkers are empty, so I better read the briefing as I had skimmed it... Not really a story man but I have to ask why would you go to the effort of constructing bunkers to leave them empty... They provide better protection vs Arty and you tell your men to hide in trenches... All I am going to do is re-occupy and yes they will die, but the whole infantry force in this scenario dies.... You see that is where I am at slight odds with this scenario design is that it is all about the tanks and the infantry are mere 2nd bit actors... I get it for the basis of the campaign and I guess for this play through I am pretty much going to leave the infantry as is as to see how (if I can win) with minimal management of the infantry. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AttorneyAtWar Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 (edited) Ok So just loaded it up and both bunkers are empty, so I better read the briefing as I had skimmed it... Not really a story man but I have to ask why would you go to the effort of constructing bunkers to leave them empty... They provide better protection vs Arty and you tell your men to hide in trenches... All I am going to do is re-occupy and yes they will die, but the whole infantry force in this scenario dies.... You see that is where I am at slight odds with this scenario design is that it is all about the tanks and the infantry are mere 2nd bit actors... I get it for the basis of the campaign and I guess for this play through I am pretty much going to leave the infantry as is as to see how (if I can win) with minimal management of the infantry. My infantry killed more tanks than my Tigers in one of my playthroughs of the first mission, I did not find them to be cannon fodder as you did. Edited February 26, 2015 by Raptorx7 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holien Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Raptorx7 Well perhaps I should pay them more attention, and if you can win the 1st scenario just with infantry my hats off to you. Dragonwynn, Some other comments after a few turns. When you have full squads you need more fox holes and you even have squads / HQ's without foxholes. This is again where it does not ring true IMO. Also just plonking some AT Guns down out in the open and not having fox holes is just a bit of waste and shows no care, if you want players to believe in it you need to pay it a bit more attention IMO. Yes you have given me a swathe of open land to choose some limited deployment but not places I wanted to re-deploy to. Like woods to rear and front. I will continue to give this a quick test to see how I do with slightly different set up. (Also not yet lost a Tiger to arty... although landing close...) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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